In general, in orthopedics or neurosurgery, when a cervical spine intervertebral disc disease, a cervical spine disk, cervicospinal myelosis or a cervical spine fracture is treated, cervical spines must be fixed to not move. To this end, an apparatus for fixing a cervical spine, including a plate of a sheet form and a screw for fixing the plate to a cervical spine, is used.
A surgical procedure using the apparatus for fixing a cervical spine is performed in such a way as to cut a lesion from the neck portion of a patient, expose a cervical spine, to perform a surgical procedure matter, such as a cage for the cervical spine, on the cervical spondylosis lesion, to locate the plate at the top and bottom of the lesion, and then to fix a corresponding plate by a screw.
Accordingly, the surgical procedure matter, such as the cage that has operated on the cervical spine, is fixed by fixation power of the screw and bearing power of the plate of the apparatus for fixing a cervical spine.
However, a phenomenon in which the screw becomes loose from the plate of the apparatus for fixing a cervical spine due to the activities of a patient after a surgical procedure and then retreats from the plate may be generated. From among conventional technologies for preventing such a phenomenon, Korean Patent No. 10-0552117 (CERVICAL SPINE FIXATOR AND DRIVER) and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2016-0095637 (LOCKING MECHANISM FOR A CERVICAL FIXATION PLATE) have been known.
The contents of the prior arts are described below. In Korean Patent No. 10-0552117, the deviation of a screw is prevented by inserting the screw into an open part formed in a plate and seating a fixing member in a reset part. In U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2016-0095637, the deviation of a bone screw is prevented by inserting the bone screw into a bone screw opening formed in a plate body and coupling a locking element to a rocking post.
However, Korean Patent No. 10-0552117 has a problem in that it is inconvenient to perform rivet coupling on the plate in order to seat the fixing member. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2016-0095637 has problems in that the locking element protruded outside the plate body may be caught in another thing and damaged due to a movement of a patient and the rocking post must be separated processed in the plate body.